Receiving guide for rod rolling mill



June 13,1961

S. E. RAUDEBAUGH RECEIVING GUIDE FOR ROD ROLLING MILL Filed Oct. 31, 1958 INVENTOR STANLEY E. RAUDEBAUGH A from ey United States Patent 2 987 946 RECEIVING GUIDE r01. ROD ROLLING MILL Stanley E. Raudebaugh, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 31, 1958, Ser. No. 771,041 2 Claims. (CI. 80-51) The present invention relates generally to steel rolling mill equipment, and more particularly to an improved receiving gulide especially suitable for rod mills.

The slender rods of metal from which wire is drawn are known as wire rod and are produced by hot rolling of billets. As the rod comes from the rolling mill it is wound into coils, each coil representing the rod made from a single billet. A conventional rod mill includes a series of roll' mill stands arranged to provide a line of reduction passes whereby the billets are converted into intermediate form known as sections and then finally into rod. Each stand includes a pair of rolls mounted in a housing, a receiving guide for conducting the section to a roll pass defined by grooves in the rolls and a delivery guide for conducting the section from the stand to the receiving guide of the next stand.

The receiving guide and the delivery guide are either cast bronze or cast iron and each is formed in two complementary half sections which are mounted in side by side relation in guide boxes affixed to the rolling mill stand. The delivery guides are so. designed that the section being rolled is twisted from approximately 45 to 90 about its longitudinal axis as it travels from one roll stand to the next depending upon the shape of the section.

The purpose of the receiving guide is twofold. First, the receiving guide positions the strand in the proper plane for entering the pass between the reduction rolls. Secondly, the receiving guide takes out any over-twist or under-twist that is put in the section by the delivery guide of the preceding stand.

Prior to my invention each half of a receiving guide was provided with a continuously tapered longitudinal groove so that when the two halves were installed in the guide box of the mill stand a continuously tapered bearing surface and passageway for the section being rolled extended from the entry end of the guide to the exit end. This passageway extended from a flared bell mouth at the entry end of the guide. In order that the receiving guide would efficiently perform its function, viz., proper positioning of the section for entering the reduction pass, and the elimination of any over-twist or under-twist in the section, the receiving guide halves were fitted into the guide box tightly so that the bearing surfaces of the passageway were disposed closely around the section passing through the guide. Due to the required tightness of the guides the bearing surfaces were subject to constant wear. Frequently, the bearing surfaces picked up particles of steel from the section passing therethrough. These particles of steel would adhere to the bearing surfaces and cause surface defects in sections subsequentially passing through the guide. Excessive pick-up frequently caused cobbles by obstructing free passage of the section through the guide. Such pick-up necessitated frequent grinding of the bearing surfaces of the guide passageways. Frequent regrinding reduced considerably the life of the guide.

Closely confining bearing surfaces of the guides also received additional wear, particularly in the finishing stands, due to the impact of the end of each section as it passed through since in normal rolling a whipping action is imparted to the end of the section as it exited from the mill stand.

In attempts to increase the useful life of receiving guides the bearing surfaces of the passageways were provided with inserts made of stainless steel, carbide tips and similar material in order to increase the wear resistance of of the bearing surfaces. Such measures increased the costs of the guides and were not completely successful in accomplishing the desired results. Due to the high temperatures encountered during the hot rolling of rod and the frictional forces present it was necessary to replace the reinforcing inserts with such frequency that their use was not economically feasible.

It is, accordingly, the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved receiving guide for a rod rolling mill stand which is so designed that its passageway presents a pair of spaced bearing area portions each preceded by a tapered enlarged cross-sectional diameter portion.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved rod mill receiving guide as set forth immediately above which has in addition to the two spaced bearing areas a fluid inlet opening for conducting water and the like to the passageway for flushing therefrom any particles of steel picked up from the section passing through the guide and also to cool the passageway in order to minimize metal pick-up from the section.

These and other objects will become more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an assembly view showing the receiving guide of the invention installed on a rolling mill stand;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view;

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal sectional view;

FIGURE 5 is an end view looking to the right of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line VI-VI of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line VII--VII of FIGURE 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings reference numeral 2 designates generally a rod mill reduction stand having the receiving guide of the invention, designated by reference numeral 4, mounted thereon. The receiving guide 4 communicates with a reduction pass between rolls 6 in the mill stand. A delivery guide 8 is aflixed to the mill stand adjacent the delivery end of the reduction pass. Guides 4 and 8 are mounted in guide boxes on the mill stand in a conventional manner which is not part of the present invention and therefore will not be described in detail.

The receiving guide 4 is made of two complementary half sections forming an elongated housing having a flared bell mouth 10 at one end for receiving the leading end of the billet section, a passageway 12 extending from the bell mouth, and a pointed exit end 14 adapted to fit into the roll pass of the reducing mill stand for conducting the section thereto. The passageway 12 includes a hearing area 16 which is dimensioned to define the rod section being rolled. A transverse opening 18 formed by cutouts in the Walls of the complementary half sections is provided forward of the bearing area 16. The bottom and top edges of the transverse opening 18 are cut away so as to form a vertical opening 20 through the guide which intersects and is continuous with the transverse opening 18. The passageway 12 is flared forward of the openings 18 and 2t) and leads to a second bearing area 22 which extends to the pointed exit end 14 of the guide.

Bearing area 16 functions to eliminate any over-twist or under-twist from the section being rolled and also straightens the whipping action of the last end of the section. Bearing area 16 delivers the billet section in the .3 proper position to the bearing area 22 at the entrance end of the guide.

Thus, the bearing areas 16 and 22 provide two spaced supportingtareas in the passageway 12 for the billet section passing through the guide.

' The openings 18 and 20 permit waterv to enter inside the passageway 12 and cool it as Well as the section traveling through it. This cooling reduces pick-up of metal particles from the billet section as it passes through the guide therefore eliminating the necessity of frequently grinding the passageway to remove imbedded metal particles. Flow of water through the passageway also serves to wash out of the guide any loose particles of metal that may drop from the billet section as it passes through the guide. The design of the receiving guide of the invention also makes it possible to utilize economically carbide tip or stainless steel inserts in the passageway since the continuous flow of water in the passageway 12 functions to cool the inserts and prevent crazing and breaking thereof.

It is not necessary to add additional water connections to the rolling mill stand to supply water for the guide of the invention since the flow of water conventionally provided to cool the reducing roll passes will enter the guide through openings 18 and 20 in normal operation.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departin from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A receiving guide for a rod mill stand comprising an elongated body formed of two complementary half sections and having a flared entry end, a pointed exit end and a continuous passageway therethrough extending longitudinally between said ends, a pair of spaced fixed bearing areas in said passageway, said entry and exit ends, said passageway and said bearing areas constituting integral elements of said body, one of said bearing areas being disposed toward the entry end of said body and the other bearing area being dispo'sed toward the exit end of said body, said passageway being tapered to an enlarged diameter preceding each of said bearing areas. 2. A receiving guide as defined by claim 1 in which said housing has an opening threthrough intermediate said bearing areas for conducting fluid to said passageway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,213,714 Mekeel et a1. Sept. 3, 1940 2,325,397 Hawthorne July 27, 1943 2,608,888 Norlindh Sept, 2,, 1952 2,791,139 Bostock May 7, 1957 2,856,803 Fredriksson Oct. 21, 1958 

